AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON RETAILERS SATISFACTION AND PERCEPTION TOWARDS VODAFONE DATA PLANS IN SALEM

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(Affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University)
Madurai-625005
AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON RETAILERS SATISFACTION AND PERCEPTION
TOWARDS VODAFONE DATA PLANS IN SALEM
A summer internship report submitted in partial fulfillment of the Post Graduate Diploma in
Management of Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai
By
DEEPAK.J
Register number: 1413013
Under the guidance of
Internal Guide : Dr. Mehir Kumar Baidya, TSM, Madurai
External Guide: Mr. Arunkumar.N, Distribution Lead,
Vodafone India Ltd, Salem
Madurai-625005
April – June 2015

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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that this internship on “AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON RETAILERS
SATISFACTION AND PERCEPTION TOWARDS VODAFONE DATA PLANS IN
SALEM” was undertaken at Vodafone India Ltd, in Salem is a bonafide work done by Mr.
Deepak.J (Reg No: 1413013) in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Post
Graduate Diploma in Management, under the guidance of Dr. Mehir Kumar Baidya. To the best
of my knowledge this is his original effort and has not been submitted for the award of any
degree, diploma or certification of this university or any other university.
Principal Faculty Guide
Dr. M. Selvalakshmi, Dr. Mehir Kumar Baidya,
Thiagarajar School of Management Thiagarajar School of Management
Madurai – 625005. Madurai – 625005.
Place: Madurai
Date:

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DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE
Deepak.J
Register number – 1413013
II PGDM
Thiagarajar School of Management
Madurai - 625 005
I hereby state that the report entitled “AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON RETAILERS
SATISFACTION AND PERCEPTION TOWARDS VODAFONE DATA PLANS IN
SALEM” was undertaken at Vodafone India Ltd in Salem submitted to Thiagarajar School of
Management, Madurai in partial fulfillment for Post Graduate Diploma in Management, is a
record of original work done by me and no part of this internship report has been submitted for
the award of any other degree like diploma, fellowship or other similar studies.
Place: Madurai Signature of the candidate
Date:
(Deepak.J)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I put forth my heart and soul to thank the management of Vodafone India Ltd, Salem for
giving me the golden opportunity to pursue my summer internship with them.
I also extend my deep sense of gratitude to Mr. Martyn Rajadurai, Zonal business manager,
Vodafone India Ltd, Salem for giving me the opportunity to undertake my internship program. I
wish to extend a sincere and wholehearted gratitude to Mr. Arunkumar.N, Distribution Lead
and Vodafone for giving me this opportunity to take up this project and in helping me
channelize my efforts in the right direction and for the valuable suggestions, constant
encouragement and constructive criticism at every step of my internship.
With profound respect, I express my deep sense of gratitude to Mr. Sarath Kumar, Area Sales
Manager, Mr. Rajkumar, Channel Sales Manger, for the enormous encouragement, valuable
suggestions and guidance.
I sincerely thank Prof. Gautam Ghosh, Director, Thiagarajar School of Management, Prof
Selvalakshmi, Principal, TSM for his encouragement and Dr. Mehir Kumar Baidya,
Professor, TSM for providing guidance and valuable ideas which helped me to complete this
project successfully. Finally, I extend my heartfelt thanks to my friends and family members
who have been a source of inspiration and support during my internship.

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Executive Summary
Today, it would be difficult to find a company that does not proudly claim to be a retailer -
oriented, retailer- focused, or even-retailer driven enterprise. Increasing competition (whether
for-profit or non-profit) is forcing businesses to pay much more attention to satisfy customers
and their retailers. Retailer’s satisfaction has now become major concern of the mobile service
providers in our country. Because of having extensive competition and battle for existence in the
market, every business now more focus on the retailer’s satisfaction and expectation. Although
retailers are the main and foremost medium for the telecom business who closely interact with
the subscribers.
The objective of this study is to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the process of
retailer’s satisfaction on the Data plans and Internet services provided by the Vodafone India
Limited in Salem, Tamilnadu. The study was carried out in urban areas of Salem such as new
bus stand, Salem junction, Ammapettai and Old bus stand. During the internship period, daily
visit to the outlets present in the above mentioned area is made and details have been collected.
To measure the Retailer’s satisfaction separate questionnaires was designed by comprising some
important variables. Based on the findings of the study some recommendations have been made
which may assist Vodafone India Ltd. to increase the market growth based on more satisfied
retailers. From the study I can see that the Airtel & Vodafone has capitulates most of the market
share, but still there is a big scope of further penetration of Vodafone into the current market
scenario by more innovative marketing strategies in Data plans. Having worked in the above
market identified that Aircel and Airtel have become the most popular brands in the Salem
market for Data Plans. Whereas, the other companies like Idea, Tata Docomo and Reliance also
giving a strong competition to their rivals. I have felt that there is lot of improvement needed in
promotional strategies and making the people aware of the usefulness of Vodafone Internet
Speed. With proper promotional strategies and attractive offers in Data plans the mobile
companies can attract more customers.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
.
CHAPTER TOPIC
PAGE
NO.
List of Table 11
List of Figures 11
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Nature of scope 12
1.2 Need for the study 12
1.3 Main Objectives of the research 13
Chapter 2 Organization Profile
2.1 Overview of Telecom Industry 15
2.2 Industry Profile 15
2.3 Company Profile 17
2.4 Mobile services 24
2.5 Subscriber Base 25
Chapter 3 Literature Review 26
Chapter 4 Research Methodology
4.1 Research Problem 32
4.2 Research design 32
4.3 Problem Identification 32
4.4 Research Objectives 33
4.5 Determine the sampling frame 33
4.6 Selecting a Sampling technique 33
4.7 Determine the sample size 34
4.8 Data collection, Preparation, Analysis 34
4.9 Sources of Data 34
4.10 Procedure for Data collection 35
4.11 Data Analytic technique 36
Chapter 5 Data Analysis and Interpretation
5.1 Percentage analysis 38
5.2 Analysis using SPSS 43

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Chapter 6 Learning’s and suggestions
6.1 Internship Learning 61
6.2 The consumption sites 61
6.3 Why idea focused outlets need importance? 62
6.4 Suggestions 62
Chapter 7 Recommendations, Limitations & Conclusion
7.1 Findings 65
7.2 Recommendations 66
7.3 Limitations 67
7.4 Conclusion 68
Chapter 8 Bibliography and Appendix
8.1 Questionnaire 71
8.2 References 75
8.3 Organizational feedback form 76
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE NO. TITLE
PAGE
NO.
2.1 Subscriber Base 25
5.1 Vodafone Data Sales vs Service quality 43
5.2 Vodafone Data Sales vs Commission structure 45
5.3 Vodafone Data Sales vs Recharge price 47
5.4 Vodafone Data Sales vs Internet Speed 49
5.5 Vodafone Data Sales vs Attractive offers 51
5.6 Vodafone Data Sales vs Communication gap 53
5.7 Vodafone Data Sales vs Sales promotions 55
8.4 Work diary 77
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE
NO. TITLE
PAGE
NO.
5.1 Retailers satisfaction towards network speed 39
5.2 Retailers satisfaction towards Sales commission 40
5.3 Retailers satisfaction towards Sales promotions 41
5.4 Retailers satisfaction towards service 42
5.5 Retailers overall satisfaction towards data plans 43

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1. Introduction
1.1 Nature of scope
Vodafone is the second largest mobile network operator in India by subscriber base after Airtel
with a market share of 22.95%. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage
throughout India with better presence in the metros. Vodafone India Limited is one of the fastest
growing mobile services providers in Tamilnadu. The company offers a wide range of products
including mobile services, voice, value added services, data and m-commerce products and is
focused on expanding its state-of-the-art mobile network both for coverage and capacity. Today
almost all of the operators are offering almost same categories of products it has become a big
challenge to retain the existing subscribers and acquisition of new customers. At this moment
Vodafone is trying to reach the retailers with various promotional activities and is attempting to
make their brand presence felt. Through their significant advances in Salem, Vodafone is
moving ahead on the track to achieve their goals. As a student of PGDM program, I got the
opportunity to complete my internship program in such a multinational telecom company. The
internship program is the partial requirement of my PGDM program and the duration of the
internship session was 3 months. The present study is aimed to determine to know the factors
influencing the Retailer’s satisfaction towards Vodafone Data Plans in Salem which is a district
of Tamilnadu. Customers are highly influenced by image of the retail outlet, its attributes,
product range, variety, services, employee’s behaviour, decor and marketing strategies. I worked
in the central sales department at Salem Zone of Vodafone India Limited. The report has been
prepared in align with my job responsibilities and experiences at Vodafone. A descriptive study
was conducted to achieve the objectives. In total 100 respondents were used for Primary data,
retailers filled a well-structured questionnaire having a list of statements pertaining to products,
services & facilities provided by the service provider. Type of sampling method used was
Convenience sampling. Results reveal that the dimensions which influence the satisfaction level
of Retailers are: Core services like Insufficient SIM delivery, poor commission structure, poor
coverage, connectivity, attractive promotions and offers. Further results show that there is a
significant relation between the brand name and the preference of customers. Hence, it has been
recommended that telecom companies should focus on connectivity, attractive offers,
promotions and network quality.

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1.2 Need for the study
It helps the distributor to know the needs and requirements of retailers for improving the sales. It
helps the distributor to understand the communication gap between retailers and distributor. The
present study can be extended to other geographical areas. This study can be extended to
understand the Retailers and customers expectations of a particular cellular service provider and
accordingly new plans in Internet packs can be formulated.
1.3 Main Objectives of the research
Primary Objectives:
 The broad objective of this report is to find out the retailers satisfaction level and to
know the needs & requirements of a Vodafone retailers on Vodafone Data Plans.
Secondary Objectives:
 To find out the degree of market potentiality in Salem for Vodafone Data Plans.
 To identify the factors that affect the consumers into switching the service provider
for Data Plans and to understand consumer perception about products and services
related to Vodafone Data plans.
 To find the most preferred service provider in Salem for Data Plans.
 To find the major influences that goes into the decision of purchasing of Data Plans.
 To study the impact of attributes like price, quality of connectivity, customization of
plans and services etc. for preferring a particular brand of telecommunication
connection for Data plans.
 Competitor analysis of data plans in Salem market according to customer and
retailers preferences.
 To find out specific areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction of Vodafone Retailers.
 To find out the most possible solution to increase the retailers satisfaction over the
competitors.
 To analyze the communication gap between retailers & Vodafone

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CHAPTER 2
ORGANIZATION PROFILE

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2.1 Overview of Telecom Industry
Telecom services have been recognized the world over as an important tool for socio economic
development of a nation. It is one of the prime support services needed for rapid growth and
modernization of various sectors of the economy. India is currently the world’s second-largest
telecommunications market and has registered exceptional growth in the past few years. The
reasons for growth of the telecom sector in India are reform measures by the Government of
India, active participation of the private sector and wireless technology.
The National Telecom Policy 2012 (NTP-2012) was announced with the objective to maximize
public goods by facilitating reliable, secure and affordable telecommunication as well as
broadband services in India. This along with the deregulation of Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) norms have made the telecommunications sector one of the fastest growing and a top five
employment opportunity generator in the country.
2.2 Industry Profile
Telecom is one of the fastest-growing industries in India. Today India stands as the second-
largest telecommunications market in the world. The mobile phone industry in India would
contribute US$ 400 billion in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) of the country in 2014.
This sector which is growing exponentially is expected to generate about 4.1 million additional
jobs by 2020, as per Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA).
In the period April 2000 to January 2015, the telecom industry has got in foreign direct
investments (FDI) of about US$ 59,796 million, which is an increase of 6 per cent to the total
FDI inflows in terms of US$, as per report published by Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP).
India’s global system for mobile (GSM) operators had 4.14 million rural subscribers as of
January 2015, bringing the total to 285.35 million.
Data traffic powered by third generation (3G) services grew at 146 per cent in India during
2013, higher than the global average that saw usage double, according to an MBit Index study
by Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN).

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India's Smartphone market grew by 171 per cent in 2013, to 44 million devices from 16.2
million in 2012, as per research firm IDC India. The increasing popularity of bring-your-own-
device (BYOD) in the workplace is further adding momentum to the smartphone market. The
tide has turned for the telecom sector in India, as growth and profitability has accelerated in
recent times. Tower companies are reaping benefits of a turnaround in the sector as operators
have started investing in networks to boost data penetration.
However it is in the country’s booming mobile segment in which the major battles are being
fought. Three major private players – Bharti, Reliance and Vodafone - with a formidable 54%
share of the market between them, lead a large field of mobile operators. State-owned
enterprises –BSNL and MTNL – have also been making their presence felt with a combined
market share of 12%.
Indian telecom industry has grown from a tele-density of 3.58% in March 2001 to 74% in June
2015. This great leap in both numbers of consumers as well as revenues from telecom services
has not only provided sufficient contribution in Indian GDP growth but also provided much
needed employment to India youth.
Removal of restrictions on foreign capital investment and industrial de-licensing has allowed
various private players to enter into the Indian telecommunication market. The Indian telecom
market is regulated by Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) which acts as
an independent regulator was set up in 1997 by the Indian Government. Despite several
controversies, the TRAI has earned a reputation for transparency and competency.
Today two types of mobile phone service providers operates in the Indian market, they are –
• Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)
• Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
Presently India has nearly 200 million telephone lines making it the third largest network in the
world after China and USA. With a growth rate of 45%, Indian telecom industry has the highest
growth rate in the world. Three types of service providers exist in the Indian telecommunication
sector, like the following –

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• State owned companies like - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd and
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.
• Private Indian owned companies like - Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices.
• Foreign invested companies like - Vodafone, Bharti Tele-Ventures, Idea Cellular, BPL Mobile,
Spice Communications etc.
This project has been carried out to study the scope of Vodafone Data plans with an aim to
popularize & meet the expectation level of the consumers and retailers. Research activities with
the help of well-structured questionnaire have been carried out to interact with the customers for
their feedback and also concentrated on a comparative study of Vodafone with its competitors
through direct interview method with retailers. The project also covered the opinion of the
distributors and dealers along with different types of customers of different industrial sectors and
households. Due to increasing competition among various players allowed the prices drastically
down by making the mobile facility accessible to the urban middle class population, and to a
great extends in the rural areas.
2.3 Company Profile
The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the
provision of voice and data services over mobile phones
Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered
in London and with its registered office in Newbury, Berkshire. It is the world's 2nd-largest
mobile telecommunications company measured by both subscribers and 2013 revenues
(behind China Mobile), and had 434 million subscribers as of 31 March 2015.
Vodafone owns and operates networks in 21 countries and has partner networks in over 40
additional countries. Its Vodafone Global Enterprise division provides telecommunications and
IT services to corporate clients in over 65 countries.
Vodafone has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE
100 Index. It had a market capitalization of approximately £89.1 billion as of 6 July 2012, the
third-largest of any company listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has a secondary listing
on NASDAQ.
The evolution of 'Vodafone' started in 1982 with the establishment of the 'Racal Strategic Radio
Ltd' subsidiary of Racal Electronics plc – UK's largest maker of military radio technology,
which formed a joint venture with Millicom called 'Racal', which evolved into the present day
Vodafone.

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2.3.1 Evolution as a Racal Telecom brand: 1980 to 1991
Vodafone's original logo, used until the introduction of the speech mark logo in 1997
In 1980, Sir Ernest Harrison OBE, the then chairman of Racal Electronics plc. agreed to a deal
with Lord Weinstock of General Electric Company plc to allow Racal to access some of GEC's
tactical battle field radio technology. The head of Racal's military radio division – Gerry
Whent was briefed by Ernest Harrison to drive the company into commercial mobile radio.
Whent visited GE’s mobile radio factory in Virginia, USA the same year to understand the
commercial use of military radio technology.
Jan Stenbeck, head of a growing Swedish conglomerate, set up an American company,
Millicom, Inc. and approached Racal’s Whent in July 1982 about bidding jointly for the UK’s
second cellular radio licence. The two struck a deal giving Racal 60% of the new company,
Racal-Millicom, Ltd, and Millicom 40%. Due to UK concerns about foreign ownership, the
terms were revised, and in December 1982, the Racal-Milicom partnership was awarded the
second UK mobile phone network license. Final ownership of Racal-Millicom, Ltd was 80%
Racal, with Millicom holding 15% plus royalties and venture firm Hambros Technology Trust
holding 5%. According to the UK Secretary of State for Industry, "the bid submitted by Racal-
Millicom Ltd… provided the best prospect for early national coverage by cellular radio."
Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985 under the new name, Racal-Vodafone (Holdings)
Ltd, with its first office based in the Courtyard in Newbury, Berkshire, and shortly thereafter
Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited. On 29
December 1986, Racal Electronics issued shares to the minority shareholders of Vodafone worth
GB£110 million; and Vodafone became a fully owned brand of Racal.
On 26 October 1988, Racal Telecom, majority held by Racal Electronics; went public on
the London Stock Exchange with 20% of its stock floated. The successful flotation led to a
situation where the Racal's stake in Racal Telecom was valued more than the whole of Racal
Electronics. Under stock market pressure to realize full value for shareholders, Racal demerged
Racal Telecom in 1991.

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2.3.2 Vodafone Group, then Vodafone Airtouch plc: 1991 to 2000
On 16 September 1991, Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone
Group, with Gerry Whent as its CEO.
In July 1996, Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own for
£30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased Peoples
Phone for £77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using
Vodafone's network. In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec
Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores.
In January 1997, Gerald Whent retired and Christopher Gent took over as the CEO. The same
year, Vodafone introduced its Speechmark logo, composed of a quotation mark in a circle, with
the O's in the Vodafone logotype representing opening and closing quotation marks and
suggesting conversation.
On 29 June 1999, Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc. and
changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. The merged company commenced trading on 30
June 1999. In order to gain anti-trust approval for the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake
in E-Plus Mobilfunk. The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of the
largest German mobile network.
On 21 September 1999, Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those of Bell
Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless. The merger was completed on 4 April 2000, just a few
months prior to Bell Atlantic's merger with GTE to form Verizon Communications, Inc.
In November 1999, Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which was rejected.
Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter purchase of Orange, the UK
mobile operator. Chris Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a
"gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory. The hostile takeover
provoked strong protest in Germany, and a "titanic struggle" which saw Mannesmann resists
Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000, the Mannesmann board agreed to an
increased offer of £112 billion, then the largest corporate merger ever. The EU approved the
merger in April 2000 when Vodafone agreed to divest the 'Orange' brand, which was acquired in
May 2000 by France Telecom. The conglomerate was subsequently broken up and all
manufacturing related operations sold off.

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2.3.3 Vodafone Group plc: 2000 to present
On 28 July 2000, the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group plc.
In 2001, the Company acquired Eircell, the largest wireless communications company in
Ireland, from eircom. Eircell was subsequently rebranded as Vodafone Ireland. Vodafone then
went on to acquire Japan's third-largest mobile operator J-Phone, which had introduced camera
phones first in Japan.
On 17 December 2001, Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks", by
signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of Vodafone
international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone. The
concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where it does not
have stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be marketed under the dual-brand
scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-
Vodafone etc.)
In 2007, Vodafone entered into a title sponsorship deal with the McLaren Formula One team,
which traded as "Vodafone McLaren Mercedes" until the sponsorship ended at the end of the
2013 season.
In May 2011, Vodafone Group Plc bought the remaining shares of Vodafone Essar from Essar
Group Ltd for $5 billion.
On 1 December 2011, it acquired the Reading based Bluefish Communications Ltd –
an ICT consultancy company. The acquired operations formed the nucleus of a new Unified
Communications and Collaboration practice within its subsidiary – Vodafone Global
Enterprise, which will focus on implementing strategies and solutions in cloud computing, and
strengthen its professional services offering.
In April 2012, Vodafone announced an agreement to acquire Cable & Wireless
Worldwide (CWW) for £1.04 billion. Vodafone was advised by UBS AG, while Barclays and
Rothschild advised Cable & Wireless. The acquisition will give Vodafone access to
CWW's fibre network for businesses, enabling it to take unified communications solutions to
large enterprises in UK and globally; and expand its enterprise service offerings in emerging
markets. On 18 June 2012, Cable & Wireless' shareholders voted in favour of the Vodafone
offer, exceeding the 75% of shares necessary for the deal to go ahead.

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On 24 June 2013, Vodafone announced it would be buying German cable company Kabel
Deutschland. The takeover is valued at €7.7 billion, and was recommended over the bid of
rival Liberty Global.
On 2 September 2013, Vodafone announced it would be selling its 45% stake in Verizon
Wireless to Verizon Communications for $130 billion, in one of the biggest deals in corporate
history.
In October 2013, Vodafone began its rollout of 4G to provincial New Zealand, with the launch
of the system in holiday hotspots around Coromandel.
In February 2014, Vodafone made an offer to acquire Spain’s largest cable operator, ONO, in a
deal to be around €7 billion.
2.3.4 Vodafone India Ltd
Vodafone India Ltd. is the second largest mobile network operator in India by subscriber base,
after Airtel. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It has approximately 173 million
customers as of September 2014. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular
phone coverage throughout India with better presence in the metros.
Vodafone India provides 3G services on basis of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM
technology. Vodafone India launched 3Gservices in the country in the January–March quarter of
2011 and plans to spend up to $500 million within two years on its 3G networks. Vodafone
added maximum subscribers in July 2014, with 13.6 lakh new users joining its network to take
its base to 17.12 crore. Vodafone is the second largest player in telecom operator in India after
Airtel, with a market share of 22.95%
Hutchison Max Telecom Ltd. (HMTL), a joint venture between Hutchison Whampoa and
the Max Group, was established on 21 February 1992. The license to operate in Mumbai (then
Bombay) circle was awarded to Hutchison Max by the Department of Telecommunications
(DoT) in November 1994. The cellular service branded "Max Touch" was launched the same
year. Hutchison Max entered into the Delhi telecom circle in December 1999, the Kolkata circle
in July 2000 and the Gujarat circle in September 2000. Licenses for these circles had initially
been awarded by the DoT in 1994, 1997 and 1995 respectively. Between 1992 and 2006,
Hutchison acquired interests in all 23 mobile telecom circles of India.

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Hutchison Max rebranded Max Touch as Orange from 14 February 2000. France Telecom
(now Orange S.A.) acquired the worldwide rights for the Orange brand from Vodafone in May
2000, and planned to enforce its ownership of the brand in India. They made an offer to
purchase part of Hutchison's India operations, but Hutchison India declined to sell. Hutchison
retained the rights over the Orange brand in India, but had to pay a royalty to France
Telecom. France Telecom left the Indian market in December 2004.
HMTL was renamed Hutchison Essar Limited (HEL) in August 2005. In Delhi, Uttar Pradesh
(East), Rajasthan and Haryana, Essar Groupwas the major partner. But later Hutch took the
majority stake. By the time of Hutchison Telecom's Initial Public Offering in 2004, Hutchison
Whampoa had acquired interests in six mobile telecommunications operators providing service
in 13 of India's 23 license areas and following the completion of the acquisition of BPL Mobile
that number increased to 16. In 2006, it announced the acquisition of a company (Essar
Spacetel — A subsidiary of Essar Group) that held license applications for the seven remaining
license areas. Initially, the company grew its business in the largest wireless markets in India —
in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. In these densely populated urban areas it was able to
establish a robust network, well-known brand and large distribution network – all vital to long-
term success in India. Then it also targeted business users and high-end post-paid customers
which helped Hutchison Essar to consistently generate a higher Average Revenue Per
User (ARPU) than its competitors. By adopting this focused growth plan, it was able to establish
leading positions in India's largest markets providing the resources to expand its footprint
nationwide. In February 2007, Hutchison Telecom announced that it had entered into a binding
agreement with a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc to sell its 67% direct and indirect equity and
loan interests in Hutchison Essar Limited for a total cash consideration (before costs, expenses
and interests) of approximately $11.1 billion.
Hutch was often praised for its award winning advertisements which all follow a clean,
minimalist look. A recurrent theme is that its message "Hi" stands out visibly though it uses only
white letters on red background. Another successful ad campaign in 2003 featured a pug named
Cheeka following a boy around in unlikely places, with the tagline, "Wherever you go, our
network follows." The simple yet powerful advertisement campaigns won it many admirers. Ads
featuring the pug were continued by Vodafone even after rebranding. The brand subsequently
introduced ZooZoos which gained even higher popularity than was created by the Pug.
Vodafone's creative agency is O&M while Harit Nagpal was the Marketing Director during the
various phases of its brand evolution.

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2.3.5 Vodafone purchases Essar's stake
In July 2011, Vodafone Group bought the mobile phone business of its partner Essar for $5.46
billion. This meant Vodafone owns 74% of Essar. On 11 February 2007, Vodafone agreed to
acquire the controlling interest of 67% held by Li Ka Shing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for
US$11.1 billion, pipping Reliance Communications, Hinduja Group, and Essar Group, which is
the owner of the remaining 33%. The whole company was valued atUSD 18.8 billion. The
transaction closed on 8 May 2007. In April 2014, India based Piramal Group sold its 11% Stake
in Vodafone India to Prime Metals, an indirect subsidiary of Vodafone Group.
1992: Hutchison Whampoa and MAX group establish Hutchison Max
2000: Acquisition of Delhi operations and entry into Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Gujarat
markets through Essar acquisition
2001: Won auction for licences to operate GSM services in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and
Chennai
2003: Acquired AirCel Digilink (ADIL — ESSAR Subsidiary) which operated in Rajastan,
Uttar Pradesh East and Haryana telecom circles and rebranded it 'Hutch'.
2004: Launched in three additional telecom circles of India namely Punjab, Uttar Pradesh
(West) and West Bengal.
2005: Acquired BPL Mobile operations in 3 circles. This left BPL with operations only in
Mumbai, where it still operates under the brand 'Loop Mobile'.
2007: Vodafone acquires a 67% stake in Hutchison Essar for $10.7 billion. The company is
renamed Vodafone Essar. 'Hutch' is rebranded to 'Vodafone'.
2008: Vodafone acquires the licenses in remaining 7 circles and starts its pending operations
in Madhya Pradesh circle, as well as in Orissa, Assam, North East and Bihar.
2011: Vodafone Group buys out its partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. It paid
$5.46 billion to take Essar out of its 33% stake in the Indian subsidiary. It left Vodafone owning
74% of the Indian business.
2014: On 11 April Vodafone acquires 100 percent stake in Vodafone India.
2014: On 6 August Vodafone India launches Vodafone RED 4.New Postpaid plans across India.
2015: On 17 January Vodafone launches its iPhone plans across India.

24
2.4 Mobile services
3G
On 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction in India ended. Vodafone paid ₹ 11617.86 million
(the second highest amount in the auctions) for spectrum in 9 circles. The circles it will provide
3G in are Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Kolkata, Maharashtra & Goa, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Uttar
Pradesh (East) and West Bengal.
On 16 March 2011, Vodafone launched 3G services in Uttar Pradesh (East) in the city
of Lucknow. It was the fifth private operator (seventh overall) to launch 3G services in the
country, following Tata Docomo, Reliance Communications, Airtel, and Aircel.
On 23 June 2011 Vodafone launched 3G service in Kerala by joining with Idea in an Intra Circle
Roaming agreement. Initially Vodafone 3G services will be available in the following cities in
Kerala – Ernakulam, Aluva, Palakkad, Thrissur, Calicut, Koyilandy, Alappuzha, Cherthala,
Malappuram and Manjeri. On 28 June 2012, Vodafone launched a new international roaming
package under which the users shall have not to pay multiple rentals in the countries they are
visiting.
iPhone
Vodafone Launched iPhone plans on 17 January 2015 with Vodafone 6K and 10K plans for
iPhone 4s, 5s, 5c, 6
M-Pesa
M-Pesa, branded as M-Paisa (the paisa being the largely unused subunit of the Indian rupee),
was launched in India as a close partnership with HDFC bank in November 2011. Development
for the bank began as early as 2008. The service continues to operate in a limited geographical
area in India. Vodafone India had partnered with both HDFC and ICICI, ICICI launched M-Pesa
on April 18, 2013. Vodafone plans to rollout this service throughout India. The user needs to
register for this service by paying 100 Rupees and there are charges levied per M-Pesa
transaction.

25
2.5 Subscriber Base:
Following is the Vodafone India subscriber base statistics as on September, 2014.
Table 2.1: Subscriber Base
Subscriber Base Statistics as on September, 2014
Telecom Circle No. of
Subscribers
Gujarat 15,801,117
Uttar Pradesh(East) 14,526,236
Maharashtra 12,977,123
West Bengal 11,165,667
Tamil Nadu 9,777,927
Rajasthan 8,565,366
Uttar Pradesh(West) 8,999,073
Andhra Pradesh 5,224,689
Delhi 8,449,120
Goa 7,134,576
Karnataka 6,452,620
Kerala 6,067,506
Bihar 6,381,278
Kolkata 4,084,284
Punjab 4,309,853
Haryana 4,437,015
Madhya Pradesh &
Chhattisgarh
4,101,877
Chennai 2,091,411
Odisha 2,789,575
Assam 2,188,073
North East 928,563
Jammu & Kashmir 666,009
Himachal Pradesh 475,329
Mumbai 6,160,353
Total number of Vodafone India Subscribers: 141,519,840, i.e. 21.54% of the
total 657,158,013 Indian mobile phone subscribers.

26
CHAPTER 3
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

27
3.1 Literature review
As my project area is to find out the retailer satisfaction level of Vodafone Data Plans, I have
gone through different articles and journals published for telecom sector. I have also reviewed
various websites, research papers, News articles and text books to enrich my theoretical
knowledge on retailer perception level. It provides me with an idea about the current situation in
terms of what has been done, and what I know. Sometimes it includes suggestions about what
needs to be done to increase the knowledge and understanding of a particular problem.
1. Title: The Effects of Relational Benefits on Retail Satisfaction ( Author : David Martin –
Consuegra Arturo Molina)
In today’s competitive world communication plays a very important role. Many innovations
have recently modified the concept of commercial distribution, due to new forms of
commercialization and distribution of goods and services as well as the 21st
century consumers.
This study is justified by the commercial distribution, service quality and consumer satisfaction
as the key elements for the success of retail businesses facing increasing competition and recent
market changes. This paper intends to propose a model to describe the relationship between two
concepts: retailer satisfaction and relational benefits in retailing. The central goal this research
has identified and described the relational benefits perceived by the retailers in commercial
distribution, to define the main components of retail satisfaction and determined what the
relationship between relational benefits and satisfaction.
2. Title: The impact of brand trust and satisfaction on retailer repurchase intentions
(Author: Zboja, James J, Voorhees, Clay M) The Journal of Services Marketing (2006) :
381- 390
In an effort to shed new insight into the effects of Brands on consumer perceptions of the
retailer, this study has examined the role of consumer trust in and satisfaction with the brand and
their relationship to retailer trust and satisfaction and ultimately retailer repurchase intention.
This research provides a examination of the relationship between brands, retailers and
consumers. The results suggest that halo effects exist between customer perceptions of brands
and retailers satisfaction. The companies must realize that perceptions of brands are transferred
to retailers that carry their products. However, in order for customers to return, a retailer must
satisfy them and earn their trust, since the effects on retailer’s satisfaction will have a direct
impact in customers return.

28
3. Title: Benchmarking telecommunication service in India : An application of data
envelopment analysis (Author : Roma Mitra Debnath)
Technological modernization is increasingly viewed as a premeditated necessity in today’s era
of growth and prosperity for any company. Telecommunications has entered a new age of
development with advanced technology and increased competition with established players. The
technological advances in the telecommunication sector are associated with an uninterrupted
growth of growth of mobile sector. The prime focus of the service providers is to create a loyal
customer base by benchmarking their performances and retaining existing customers in order to
benefit from their loyalty. The paper has addressed these issues.
4. Title : Mobile Internet service : Assessment of quality and satisfaction from the
customer’s perspective (Author Jeon, Sunran The university of Nebraska – Lincoln,
Proquest UMI Dissertations Publishing, 2008 3315206)
With the development of mobile technologies, the use of mobile internet service has spread
rapidly. The mobile internet can be considered from different perspective. Specifically, this
study is about mobile internet service from the customers’ perspective. The findings were
among attributes of mobile internet service, three attributes –ubiquity, reachability and instant
connectivity – were found to have significant effects on mobile internet service quality
influenced customer satisfaction, which in turn affected retailer’s satisfaction. Moreover mobile
internet service quality also had a direct effect on continuance intention. The major contributions
of this study is that the roles of mobile internet service quality and mobile internet service
satisfaction are important factors in customers continuance intention and retailers satisfaction
with regards to mobile internet service.
5. Title: Customer respond and satisfaction against marketing strategies of selected cellular
service providers in Nanded City (Author: DR. SARIKA .R. LOHANA)
In the today’s competitive world of communication plays a very important role. It is like blood
in the human body cellular phones have become an integral part of the growth, success and
efficiency of any business. This is the technology that gives a person the power to communicate
any time anywhere. Due to advancement in technology, now communication becomes easy and
faster. Delicate communication requirements are changing rapidly as our society becomes more
and more mobile. The client does not want to miss any of his calls. Hence tremendous demand
of cell phones exists in developing country like India. But to study further the customers respond

29
to the marketing strategies and their satisfaction level for the same. This paper is empirical based
study based customer respond and satisfaction against marketing strategies of selected cellular
service providers in Nanded City.
6. Title: Mobile Phone usage habits of students communicating from rural areas to town.
(Authors: Atul Patel, Dr. Harishchandra Singh)
Mobility, user- friendliness and convenience of communication have made mobile phone an
integral part of human life. Past research related to mobile phone reveals that mobile usage
pattern varies from one group to another. Hence, by considering these issues relating to the
usage pattern of different age groups, researchers have attempted to carry out an exploratory
study of rural youths pursuing graduation from educational institutions located in a nearby town
Visnagar in Gujarat State (India). Opinions of students regarding various brands of internet
service providers, mobile handsets and functions of mobile phones are being investigated in this
paper. This paper emphasizes on different influential factors affecting mobile purchase and
choosing a mobile operators. If different rural segments are systematically studied and analyzed,
organizations willing to enter the emerging rural market will be able to promote their products
and services in a much better manner leading to higher customer satisfaction and in an
increasing market size.
News article:
Article title: Vodafone India launches 3G centric “Speed is good” campaign
The Economic Times – April 08, 2015
Telecom major Vodafone is set to launch a new campaign celebrating speed during the latest
edition of the popular T20 event Indian Premier League, called “Speed is good”, which
comprises a series of television commercials that the company would air during the seven-week-
long tournament. The “Speed is Good” campaign aims at articulating speed with the benefit of
the fastest 3G network substantiated with hard functional claims basis an analysis of Ookla
Speed test data during the period September 2014 to February 2015, the company said. The
company claims that its network was adjudged to allow 22% faster download and 43% faster
upload experience with its 3G data network as compared to the next best operator. This
campaign will endeavor to strengthen the 3G network credentials through new campaign.

30
News Article:
Article title: Vodafone hikes prepaid data tariffs by upto 47%
The Business today.in – June 14, 2015
Telecom services provider Vodafone has increased pre-paid data tariff for 2G and 3G services in
Delhi-NCR by up to 47 per cent, while MTS hiked rates of post-paid data pack by 8 per cent.
The increase comes in the aftermath of March spectrum auction wherein telcos had paid around
Rs 1.1 lakh crore to acquire airwaves. Earlier, Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular had increased the
tariffs for mobile data. Vodafone has increased the price of its 3G pack of 10 GB data to Rs
1,847 with a validity of 28 days from Rs 1,255 earlier.
The country's second-largest mobile operator has increased the price of its 1 GB pack of 3G data
to Rs 297 from Rs 255. Also, it has increased price of 1 GB 2G pack to Rs 195 from Rs 175
earlier. Vodafone has also made changes in most of the pre-paid plans and has also reduced
validity of various packs. Idea was the first telecom operator that increased data tariffs after the
March spectrum auction. Airtel also recently increased rates for mobile Internet packs, both 2G
and 3G, sold online for pre-paid customers across the country. The company has withdrawn
discounts that it was offering for online purchase of mobile data packs, bringing the prices at par
with Internet packs sold offline through retailers. In a bid to improve profitability, telcos have
been cutting back on discounts and freebies. Last year, firms including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone
and Idea had increased data as well as call tariffs. After the March spectrum auction, industry
associations had said there would be hike in tariffs as operators have to meet the commitment to
the government.

31
CHAPTER 4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

32
4.1 Research Problem
Methodology is an essential aspect of any project or research. It enables the researcher look at
the problem in a systematic, meaningful and orderly way. Methodology comprises the sources of
data, selection of data, various designs and techniques used for analyzing the data. This research
paper demonstrates to discover the factors that influence retailer’s satisfaction and data sales.
And also to identify the degree of association between retailer satisfaction and market share. The
research use following research methodology.
4.2 Research Design
A survey was conducted by the aid of well structured questionnaire among the retailers of
Vodafone in Salem region. The questionnaire was prepared based on the responses from
Vodafone retailers during the pilot survey. From the responses, it was inferred that the factors
influencing retailer’s satisfaction are commission structure, network speed, response time,
attractive offers, sales promotions and quality of customer service.
The retailer satisfaction questionnaire consisted of series of close ended questions in order to get
appropriate information from respondents. Five point Likert Scale was designed to measure the
variables and the purpose was to offer the respondents a greater degree of differentiation in their
responses.
4.3 Problem identification
 Consumers have every chance of switching the mobile service provider due to rapid
industry expansion.
 Mobile industry is growing technically and becoming economical due to competitor’s
innovative and attractive services. A retailer satisfaction with respect to service and
commission structure has a strong influence is Data sales.
 Number of players in this sector is increasing, so each one of them wants to overplay
others to attract the consumers with attractive offers and promotions.
 Major revenue for telecommunication today is obtained through Data Sales; mobile
industry has become economic with the end result that consumers have less switching
cost for data plans.

33
4.4 Research Objectives
Hypotheses:
H1: Network speed has a strong significant influence in selecting mobile operator for data plans
H2: Retailers satisfaction with respect to service and commission structure has a strong
influence is Data sales
H3: Service quality has a significant influence on perception in selecting mobile
telecommunication operator
H4: Recharge price has a significant influence on perception in selecting mobile
telecommunication operator
H5: Sales Promotion has a significant influence in selecting mobile operator for data plans
H6: The communication gap existing between retailers and Vodafone with respect to knowledge
and communication about schemes has a significant influence in sales
H7: Advertisement, attractive offers and customization of plans according to the user needs has
a significant influence in Data sales
4.5 Determine the sampling frame
A sampling frame is a representation of the elements of the target population. It consists of a list
or set of directions for indentifying the target population. For determining sampling frame of this
research I took the help from Arunkumar.N; senior Distribution Lead of Vodafone. He provided
me the information about the retailer’s sales –ID, their assigned channel sales managers contact
numbers. I also prepared myself to obtain help from other existing sales executives in Salem
Zone for conducting the research.
4.6 Selecting a Sampling technique
For this study, Salem is geographically divided into three distribution points. The respondents
for retailers were mainly drawn from idea focused key outlets.
In case of selecting a sampling unit, I selected sampling without replacement technique. Once a
sample is selected and asked question, it is removed from the sampling frame so that it cannot be
selected again. By this sampling approach, the repetition of the same sample is not occurred in

34
this project. Another approach judgmental sampling has also been followed in this research for
customers. It is a kind of non-probability sampling techniques that allow me to apply my
observation and personal judgment to choose the elements to be included in the sample.
4.7 Determine the sample size
Sample size will be the number of elements to be included in the study. The important
qualitative factors which should be considered will be:
• The importance of the decision
• The nature of the research
• The nature of analysis
• Sample size used in similar studies
By considering all this factors and discussing with my supervisor the sample size is considered
to be around 100 for retailers from three different distribution areas of Salem.
4.8 Data Collection, Preparation, Analysis
Data collection is a term used to describe a process of preparing and collecting data for example
as part of a process improvement. The purpose of data collection is to obtain information to keep
on record, to make decisions about important issues, to pass information on to others. Primarily,
data is collected to provide information regarding a specific topic. The planning of data
collection for research work is generally developed in early stage of the research for its
importance and impact on the research work.
For this research, the data is collected from the respondents through a survey questionnaire.
Some other feedback is also obtained from the conversation with the territory managers.
4.9 Sources of Data
There are two types of data sources are used to obtain the required information

35
4.9.1 Primary Data:
Primary data is the specific information collected by the person who is doing the research. It can
be obtained through survey, clinical trials, case studies, true experiments and randomized
controlled studies. This information can be analyzed by other experts who may decide to test the
validity of the data by repeating the same experiments. In this research, the primary data are
collected through survey method. Survey method is undertaken to find the retailers satisfaction
and opinion. For data collection a structured questionnaire was used as an instrument. After
fulfilling the questionnaires we asked some verbal question also. According to their response we
are able to recollect some more information regarding this study and survey.
4.9.2 Primary Data Sources
 Direct interview through a survey questionnaire
 Direct conversation with Area Sales Manager and Channel Sales Manager
4.9.3 Secondary Data Sources
 Commercial websites of Vodafone
 Online articles on telecommunication sector
 Previously conducted research papers on different issues of telecommunication
 Company’s brochures, magazines etc
In this research, various research papers from journal of Marketing published in EBSCO
and report from TRAI and Vodafone was taken into consideration for secondary data.
4.10 Procedure for data collection:
After determining the target population and sampling frame I was looking forward to conduct
the survey for collecting the information. As my extent of the target population was pre-planned
and structured, therefore, I did not have any trouble to collect the information from the field
work. I spend ten working days to collect data from the selected distribution areas.
I travelled with PSR’s (Pilot Sales Representative) to desire retailers of Idea focused outlets.
Whenever I found a retail shop in the targeted area, I went to them, cordially introduced myself
and asked them whether they were selling both Vodafone connection (SIM) and recharge. After
receiving a positive response, I also assured that retailer have the m-smart code. Finally, I

36
provided a questionnaire form and asked them to participate in the survey. Fortunately, no one
denied participating in the survey because it did not take more than five minutes to finish.
Moreover, every respondent was looking enthusiastic in taking part and some of them were very
cooperative and supportive. They also assisted me to find out other retail shop. By this way, I
collected data from eight respondents on the same day from every targeted Vodafone
distribution area. I spend ten working days to collect information from three targeted distribution
areas.
4.11 Data Analytic Techniques
For the analysis part of this research sample testing in SPSS and Graphical representation of
Analysis in Excel were used.

37
CHAPTER 5
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS

38
5.1 Retailer’s satisfaction towards network speed provided by the operators
In today's internet world, speed is everything. Network Speed has become a very important
criterion for selecting a telecom service provider particularly for data plans. And it is speed
indeed that makes your smart phone experience better. That’s why every operator started
offering the superfast 3G network, which lets the customer surf, share photos and download
videos quicker than ever before. Thus the following question was analyzed in this survey to
determine retailer’s preference of operator based on their Internet Speed.
How would you rate the following Internet service provider on their Internet Speed across
Salem?
Figure 5.1
Source: Survey taken in Salem at April – July 2015
Interpretation:
The above representation shows that Airtel is responded by 32% of the survey retailers that
Airtel has good internet speed in Data plans than other companies in the telecom industry. After
that respondents support Vodafone with 22% supporting of the total Interpretation.
Most of the respondent’s perception is that Airtel Network Speed is better than other networks,
but Vodafone Speed is much better than Airtel and other networks. Retailers were not aware of
the Speed Details of the operators. Hence, Vodafone can bring awareness to retailers by
conducting proper speed test in retail outlets and Speed is good campaign to change the retailer’s
perception.

39
5.2 Retailer’s satisfaction level towards sales commission and incentives provided by the
Telecom Company for Data plans
The preferences given to sales commission and incentives play a main role in retailer’s
satisfaction. Target bonus and commission motivates the retailers to increase the sales of a
particular telecom company. The telecom companies should provide regularity, accountability,
target bonus facilities to increase satisfaction of the retailers on the commission amount. Thus
the following question was analyzed in this survey to determine retailer’s satisfaction level
based on commission structure for data plans.
How satisfied are you with the commission structure of the current network provider?
Figure 5.2
Interpretation:
The above representation shows that Aircel is responded by 32% of the survey retailers that
Aircel has better commission structure with its accountable and transparent commission service
in Data plans than other companies in the telecom industry. After that respondents support Airtel
with 22% supporting of the total respondents on providing more commission. Vodafone India
Ltd is supported by 16% of the respondents on providing more commission statement. From the
above finding it can be suggest that Vodafone should provide regularity, accountability, target
bonus facilities to increase satisfaction of the retailers on the commission amount. The above
findings clearly indicate that Vodafone has poor commission structure which results retailers’
dissatisfaction on commission structure.

40
5.3 Satisfaction level based on advertisements and promotions for Data plans
The main objective of advertisements and promotions is to attract the attention of customers and
subsequently persuade them to purchase from your business. It is a way of communicating the
benefits of your products to your target audience. Promotion refers to all marketing and
communication tactics used to convey messages about your company or brand. Increasing
investment in advertising and promotion can lead to positive results. Thus the following
question was analyzed in this survey to determine retailer’s satisfaction of a telecom service
provider based on advertisements and promotions of data plans.
How satisfied are you with the advertisements and promotion of Data plans of the following
network providers?
Figure 5.3
Interpretation: Information is the main key element for developing business in geometric way.
As long as the promotions are not received by the retailers, they will not go for new motivational
offers. Quicker the information and more effective the promotion is being received by the
retailers, faster it will go to the subscribers. Airtel makes the retailers competitively more
informative on the new offers and promotions and 30% of the respondents support on this
statement. After that respondents support Aircel with 25% supporting of the total respondents
for their promotional activities. Vodafone India Ltd is supported by 23% of the respondents for
their promotions of data plans. From the above finding it can be suggest that Vodafone should
provide frequent advertisements and promotions and show regularity to increase satisfaction of
the retailers on the promotional strategies. The above findings clearly indicate that Vodafone
have to concentrate on promoting new offers else which results in retailers’ dissatisfaction.

41
5.4 Retailer’s preference of operator based on providing updated information and
frequent communication to the retailers
Information is the main key element for developing business in geometric way. As long as the
updated information is not received by the retailers, they will not go for new motivational offers.
Quicker the information is being received by the retailers, faster it reaches the subscribers.
Regular service and frequent interaction with retailers plays an important medium in increasing
the sales in retail outlets.
Rate the network service provider, based on frequently providing updated information about
new plans and offers regarding to data.
Figure 5.4
Interpretation:
From the above survey, I have found 28% of the total respondents are highly satisfied with
Airtel on providing updated information and after sales service. After that 27% of the
respondents are satisfied with Aircel. It is evident that both Airtel and Aircel are good in
providing the information to the retailers, I can say that retailers are satisfied on delivery of all
promotional activities and information of Data plans of Airtel and Aircel. Only 17% of the
retailers are satisfied with Vodafone on delivery of information which indicates some retailers
are not satisfied with the information providing system of Vodafone. When compared to other
networks communication gap between retailers and Vodafone is more, measures should be taken
to reduce such an information gap.

42
5.5 Retailer’s overall satisfaction for the internet service provider for Data plans
In today’s competitive environment of telecom service providing company where retailer’s
satisfaction is both goal and a marketing tool. Today’s retailers and customers are harder to
satisfy in the telecom industry which is a rapidly changing environment, where lots of offers are
available. The challenge today faced by many of the telecom service companies is not only to
produce satisfied customers also to produce loyal and delighted retailers. Thus the following
question was analyzed in this survey to determine retailer’s overall satisfaction of a telecom
service provider of data plans.
What is your overall rating for the following ISPs for Data plans?
Figure 5.5
Interpretation: The above representation shows that Airtel is responded by 48% of the survey
retailers that Airtel stands top in producing loyal and delighted retailers in Data plans than other
companies in the telecom industry. After that respondents support Aircel with 26% supporting
of the total respondents on satisfying its existing retailers. Vodafone India Ltd is supported by
18% of the respondents on overall satisfaction level for data. From the above findings it can be
suggest that Vodafone should provide regularity in commission, concentrating on customization
of data plans, increasing target bonus, providing attractive offers and after sales service facilities
to increase satisfaction level of the retailers. This is a highly competitive and customer driven
market. It is high time for Vodafone to define an action plan to satisfy and retain its existing
retailers in order to increase the sales for data plans.

43
5.6 T-Test : Vodafone Data Sales vs Service quality
Objective:
To find there is a significant relationship between quality of service provided and Data sales of a
mobile operator
Null Hypothesis H0: The sale of Vodafone Data plans does not vary in accordance with the
quality of service provided.
Alternate Hypothesis H1: The sale of Vodafone Data plans varies in accordance with the
quality of service provided.
Table 5.1 Vodafone Data Sales vs Service quality
Paired Samples Statistics
Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Pair 1
airtel 4.4000 50 .49487 .06999
voda 4.6000 50 .49487 .06999
Paired Samples Correlations
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 airtel & voda 50 -1.000 .000
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean 95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Pair 1 airtel - voda -.20000 .98974 .13997 -.48128 .08128

44
Paired Samples Test
T df Sig. (2-tailed)
Pair 1 airtel – voda -1.429 49 .159
Interpretation:
Sig. value > 0.05
Therefore, failed to reject H0 (ie: Accept H0)
Thus, the sale of Vodafone Data plans does not vary in accordance with the quality of service
provided.
From the retailers feedback Airtel and Aircel occupies the top two positions in Data sales in
Salem market but Vodafone being ranked number one in service quality. But when coming to
sales of Data, Vodafone ranks third place in Salem. This clearly shows the quality of service
provided does not have a significant influence in Data sales there are several other main factors
should be taken into consideration.

45
5.7 T-Test : Vodafone Data Sales vs Commission structure
Objective:
To find there is a significant relationship between Commission structure provided to retailers
and Data sales of a mobile operator
commission structure provided to retailers.
commission structure provided to retailers.
Table 5.2 Vodafone Data Sales vs Commission structure
Pair 1
Vodafone_Commission 1.6000 50 .49487 .06999
Airtel_Commission 4.4000 50 .49487 .06999
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1
Vodafone_Commission &
Airtel_Commission
50 -.167 .247
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean 95%
Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower
Pair 1
Vodafone_Commission -
Airtel_Commission
-2.80000 .75593 .10690 -3.01483

46
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences t df Sig. (2-tailed)
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Upper
Pair 1
Airtel_Commission
-2.58517 -26.192 49 .000
Interpretation:
Sig. value < 0.05
Therefore, Reject H0
Thus, the sale of Vodafone Data plans varies in accordance with the commission structure
provided to retailers.
From the retailers feedback Airtel and Aircel the occupies the top two position in Data sales in
Salem market but Vodafone being ranked number third place in Salem. But when coming to
commission structure Aircel ranks first place in Salem to retailers. This clearly shows the
commission structure provided has a significant influence in Data sales. This is one such main
factor Vodafone should be taken into consideration.

47
5.8 T-Test: Vodafone Data Sales vs Recharge price and Tariffs
Objective: To find there is a significant relationship between Sales of Data plans based on their
tariffs, Plans and offers of a mobile operator
tariffs, Plans and offers
tariffs, Plans and offers
Table 5.3 Vodafone Data Sales vs Recharge price and Tariffs
Pair 1
aircelp 4.4000 50 .49487 .06999
vodap 1.4600 50 .54248 .07672
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 aircelp & vodap 50 .821 .000
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean 95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Pair 1 aircelp - vodap 2.94000 .31364 .04435 2.85087 3.02913

48
Paired Samples Test
T Df Sig. (2-tailed)
Pair 1 aircelp – vodap 66.284 49 .000
Interpretation:
Sig. value < 0.05
Thus, the sale of Vodafone Data plans varies in accordance with the tariffs, Plans and offers
From the retailers feedback Airtel and Aircel occupies the top two positions in Data sales in
Salem market but Vodafone being ranked number third place in Salem. But when coming to
tariffs, plans Aircel, Idea and Airtel being the preferred operator in Salem. This clearly shows
the tariffs will have a strong significant influence in Data sales. This is one such main factor
should be taken into consideration.

49
5.9 T-Test: Vodafone Data Sales vs Internet speed
Objective: To find there is a significant relationship between Sales of Data plans of service
provider based on their Internet speed
Internet Speed
Internet Speed
Table 5.4 Vodafone Data Sales vs Internet speed
Pair 1
Vodafone_InternetSpeed 4.2400 50 .43142 .06101
Airtel_InternetSpeed 4.7600 50 .43142 .06101
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1
Vodafone_InternetSpeed &
Airtel_InternetSpeed
50 -1.000 .000
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower
Pair 1
Vodafone_InternetSpeed -
-.52000 .86284 .12202 -.76522

50
Paired Samples Test
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Upper
Pair 1
Vodafone_InternetSpeed -
-.27478 -4.261 49 .000
Interpretation:
Sig. value < 0.05
Thus, the sale of Vodafone Data plans varies in accordance with Internet Speed
In today's internet world, speed is everything. Network Speed has become a very important
criterion for selecting a telecom service provider particularly for data plans. And it is speed
indeed that makes your smart phone experience better. That’s why every operator started
offering the superfast 3G network, which lets the customer surf, share photos and download
videos quicker than ever before. From the retailers feedback most of the respondent’s perception
is that Airtel Network Speed is better than other networks, but Vodafone Speed is much better
than Airtel and other networks. Retailers were not aware of the Speed Details of the operators.
Hence, Vodafone can bring awareness to retailers by conducting proper speed test in retail
outlets and Speed is good campaign to change the retailer’s perception.

51
5.10 T-Test: Vodafone Data Sales vs attractive offers
Objective: To find whether attractive offers and customization of Data plans according to the
user needs has a strong influence in selecting the network providers
Null Hypothesis H0: The sale of Vodafone Data plans does not vary in accordance with
attractive offers
Alternate Hypothesis H1: The sale of Vodafone Data plans varies in accordance with attractive
offers
Table 5.5 Vodafone Data Sales vs attractive offers
Pair 1
Aircel_Offers 4.4000 50 .49487 .06999
Vodafone_Offers 1.6000 50 .49487 .06999
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1
Aircel_Offers &
Vodafone_Offers
50 -.167 .247
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower
Pair 1
Aircel_Offers -
Vodafone_Offers
2.80000 .75593 .10690 2.58517

52
Paired Samples Test
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Upper
Pair 1 Aircel_Offers - Vodafone_Offers 3.01483 26.192 49 .000
Interpretation:
Sig. value < 0.05
Thus, the sale of Vodafone Data plans varies in accordance with attractive offers and
customization of Data plans according to the user needs.

53
5.11 T-Test: Vodafone Data Sales vs Communication Gap
Objective: To find there is a significant relationship between Sales of Data plans and providing
updated information and frequent communication to the retailers
providing updated information and frequent communication to the retailers
Alternate Hypothesis H1: The sale of Vodafone Data plans varies in accordance with
providing updated information and frequent communication to the retailers
Table 5.6 Vodafone Data Sales vs Communication Gap
Pair 1
Airtel_Communication 4.2000 50 .75593 .10690
Vodafone_Communication 2.6000 50 .80812 .11429
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1
Airtel_Communication &
Vodafone_Communication
50 .468 .001
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower
Pair 1
Airtel_Communication -
1.60000 .80812 .11429 1.37033

54
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences t Df Sig. (2-tailed)
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Upper
Pair 1
Airtel_Communication -
1.82967 14.000 49 .000
Interpretation:
Sig. value < 0.05
Thus, the sale of Vodafone Data plans varies in accordance with providing updated information
and frequent communication to the retailers.
Information is the main key element for developing business in geometric way. As long as the
updated information is not received by the retailers, they will not go for new motivational offers.
Quicker the information is being received by the retailers, faster it reaches the subscribers. It is
evident that both Airtel and Aircel are good in providing the information to the retailers, the
retailers are satisfied with the delivery of all promotional activities and information of Data
plans of Airtel and Aircel. Some retailers are not satisfied with the information providing system
of Vodafone. When compared to other networks communication gap between retailers and
Vodafone is more, measures should be taken to reduce such an information gap.

55
5.12 T-Test: Vodafone Data Sales vs Sales promotions
Objective: To find whether advertisements and promotions have a significant influencing in
selecting mobile operator for data plans
advertisements and promotions done by the service provider
Alternate Hypothesis H1: The sale of Vodafone Data plans varies in accordance with
advertisements and promotions done by the service provider
Table 5.7 Vodafone Data Sales vs Sales promotions
Pair 1
Airtel_Promo 4.6000 50 .49487 .06999
Vodafone_Promo 3.4000 50 1.03016 .14569
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1
Airtel_Promo &
Vodafone_Promo
50 -.080 .580
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower
Pair 1
Airtel_Promo -
Vodafone_Promo
1.20000 1.17803 .16660 .86521

56
Paired Samples Test
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Upper
Pair 1 Airtel_Promo - Vodafone_Promo 1.53479 7.203 49 .000
Interpretation:
Sig. value < 0.05
Thus, the sale of Vodafone Data plans varies in accordance with advertisements and promotions
done by the service provider
Airtel makes the retailers competitively more informative on the new offers and promotions.
After that respondents support Aircel for their promotional activities. From the above finding it
can be suggest that Vodafone should provide frequent advertisements and promotions and show
regularity to increase satisfaction of the retailers on the promotional strategies. The above
findings clearly indicate that Vodafone have to concentrate on promoting new offers else which
results in retailers’ dissatisfaction.

57
5.13 T-Test: Vodafone Commission vs Vodafone Tariffs
Vodafone Sales promotion vs Vodafone data offers
Vodafone communication gap vs Vodafone Internet Speed
Objective Pair 1: To find whether there is a statistically mean difference between Vodafone
Commission and Vodafone tariffs
Sales promotion and Vodafone offers
Communication gap and Vodafone Internet speed
Pair 1 - Vodafone Commission structure vs Vodafone Tariffs
Null Hypothesis H0: The perception of retailers towards mean Vodafone Commission structure
is equal to the mean of Vodafone Tariffs
Alternate Hypothesis H1: The perception of retailers towards mean Vodafone sales promotion is
not equal to the mean of Vodafone offers
Pair 2 - Vodafone Sales promotion vs Vodafone offers
Null Hypothesis H0: The perception of retailers towards mean Vodafone sales promotion is
equal to the mean of Vodafone offers
Alternate Hypothesis H1: The perception of retailers towards mean Vodafone sales promotion is
not equal to the mean of Vodafone offers
Pair 3 - Vodafone Communication gap vs Vodafone Internet Speed
Null Hypothesis Ho: The perception of retailers towards Vodafone Communication gap is equal
to the mean of Vodafone Internet Speed
Alternate Hypothesis H1: The perception of retailers towards Vodafone Communication gap is
not equal to the mean of Vodafone Internet Speed

58
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1
Vodafone_Commission &
Vodafone_Tariff
50 .667 .000
Pair 2
Vodafone_Promo &
Vodafone_Offers
50 -.480 .000
Pair 3
& Vodafone_InternetSpeed
50 .047 .747
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower
Pair 1
Vodafone_Tariff
.20000 .40406 .05714 .08517
Pair 2
Vodafone_Promo -
Vodafone_Offers
1.80000 1.34012 .18952 1.41914
Pair 3
Vodafone_Communication -
Vodafone_InternetSpeed
-1.64000 .89807 .12701 -1.89523
Pair 1
Vodafone_Commission 1.6000 50 .49487 .06999
Vodafone_Tariff 1.4000 50 .49487 .06999
Pair 2
Vodafone_Promo 3.4000 50 1.03016 .14569
Vodafone_Offers 1.6000 50 .49487 .06999
Pair 3
Vodafone_Communication 2.6000 50 .80812 .11429
Vodafone_InternetSpeed 4.2400 50 .43142 .06101

59
Paired Samples Test
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Upper
Pair 1
Vodafone_Tariff
.31483 3.500 49 .001
Pair 2
Vodafone_Promo -
Vodafone_Offers
2.18086 9.498 49 .000
Pair 3
Vodafone_Communication -
Vodafone_InternetSpeed
-1.38477 -12.913 49 .000
Interpretation:
Sig. value < 0.05 in all the three pairs
Therefore, Reject Ho in all the three pairs
There is statistically significant mean difference between Vodafone Commission structure and
Vodafone Tariffs, Vodafone Sales promotion and Vodafone offers, Vodafone Communication
gap and Vodafone Internet speed.
As per the result of paired sample statistics box it is revealed that the mean Vodafone Sales
promotion is greater than the mean of Vodafone offers, Similarly the mean of Vodafone
commission structure and Vodafone Internet Speed is greater than the mean of Vodafone Tariffs
and Vodafone communication gap.
We can conclude that Vodafone commission structure; Sales promotions and Internet speed has
a strong influence in increasing retailers satisfaction and data sales than Tariffs, offers and
communication. Thus, the sale of Vodafone Data plans varies in accordance with Commission
structure, Sales promotions and Network quality in the areas of Idea focused outlets
To make the retailers more satisfied and to change retailer’s perception towards Vodafone data,
Vodafone has to concentrate more in providing better commission structure, increasing sales
promotions and creating awareness about Vodafone Internet speed.

60
CHAPTER 6
LEARNINGS AND SUGGESSTIONS

61
6.1 Internship Learning
Several factors and parameters have been covered in internship with special support from Zonal
Manager of Vodafone prepaid services, Salem.
6.2 General Observation
The overall observation was the roles and responsibilities of Channel Sales Manager (CSM)
 How they are given targets on several parameters by the Zonal Sales Manager (ZSM)?
 How ZSM analyze, motivate, manages and set targets to Channel Sales Manager (CSM)?
 Their way of Interaction with the distributors and retailers to give them target and
motivating them to achieve it.
 Visiting major consumption market and idea focused outlets to see whether Vodafone’s
data service is there in all areas and if not find the reasons for that.
 Also moving friendly with retailers to increase in sale and communicating about the
various data offers and providing the promo Data Packs.
 Make sure that the DSE (Direct Sales Executive) visits the market regularly.
 Whether the communication between the salesman and retailer is good and all the new
offers and benefits reach the retailers?
 Interacted with the customers directly in Idea focused outlets and got feedbacks with
respect to Data plans.
 Also ensured that there is visibility of Vodafone posters and Vodafone zone was created
in all outlets in the areas of Idea focused outlets.
 Ensuring that coverage and speed is always good or contact the networking team to clear
the complaints
6.3 The Consumption Sites
Idea focused outlets are the retail outlets where Vodafone will have its prepaid customers and
services, but the consumption of Vodafone data plans is less in these retail outlets. The customer
in these areas prefers data plans from Airtel and other service providers, gives least preference
for Vodafone Data plans. The sale of Vodafone Data is comparatively less in these outlets than
super star outlets.

62
6.4 Why Idea Focused outlets need importance?
The low consumption of Vodafone Data plans from Idea focused outlets is due to several
controllable and uncontrollable factors
 Major issue occurs when there is lack of service or irregular service.
 Also the lack of Visibility and branding in that particular area contributes more. The
customer may not be aware of the availability of the product.
 The retailers fail to push Vodafone Product. This may be due to poor commission
structure and failure of Direct Sales Executive (DSE) to maintain Good relationship with
retailers.
 Lack of awareness about the attractive offers and promotional activities in these areas
contributes more.
 Lack of awareness about Vodafone 3G speed and Speed is good campaign among
retailers.
 In outer market coverage should be given more importance and awareness about new
plans and offers are low in Idea focused outlets, more consumer awareness should be
given as a quick implementation.
6.5 Suggestions
 Vodafone has to improve commission payment structure to ensure accountability and
transparency.
 Exclusive offers in Data plans should be given for the customer’s getting Vodafone’s
product in Idea focused outlets i.e free data package, double data offers, low cost long
term data plans.
 Regular stall activities should be done in these Idea focused retail outlets to increase the
customer base.
 DSE’s should be trained and advised to maintain healthy relationship with the retailers.
 Attract new customers with more attractive offers and promotions of Data sale in these
outlets.

63
 The contact no. of Distributor, CSM and DSE should be printed and pasted on retailers
shop for queries.
 Good branding and visibility should be maintained to make customer’s know that
Vodafone Data products are available in their place.
 Regular service to retail outlets and also to solve customer complaints immediately to
increase trust among retailers.
 The R offer commission should be updated daily to retailer and a message should be sent
every day. This will make Retailers to feel user friendly and feel the worth of Vodafone
retailer offer.
 Runner boy should be exclusively employed for getting the forms and activating SIM’s
immediately, this can help to increase SIM sales as the time for activation of new SIM’s
has considerable effect on customer’s choice of selecting a Telecom provider.
 Vodafone has to increase the campaign consistency for Data plans to create more
awareness in retail outlets.
 It has to provide more diversified commission offers and to customize their data plans
according to customer usage pattern.
 Vodafone should host one Major in-store event each month in Idea focused outlets where
Data sales in low. Major events fill the store with shoppers; the extravagant store
decorations for the sales event attract both current and new shoppers.
 Recovery time of activation message is low which leads to retailer’s dissatisfaction most
of the times.
 Speed is good campaign should be conducted to create more awareness about Vodafone
internet speed among retailers.
 In this short span of time it was able to find out some new outlets and implementing the
strategies to increase the sales of Vodafone Data, if this done by a dedicated team
members in Idea focused outlets areas then sales as well as the geographic size of the
Vodafone market will be increased.

64
CHAPTER 7
RECOMMENDATIONS, LIMITATIONS &
CONCLUSION

65
7.1 Findings
 The main aim of this research was to find the degree of association between retailer
satisfaction and increase in sales of Vodafone data plans. To find out the factors
influencing retailer satisfaction in telecom industry. From the above results, following
findings and conclusion is drawn.
 From the findings it is concluded that Network speed, Commission structure provided to
retailers and sales promotions are the major key factors contributing towards retailer’s
satisfaction than service quality, customization of data plans according to usage pattern,
recharge price and tariffs in Data sales in Telecom Industry.
 Retailers expect both the employees and the organization which she/he represents to
have integrity. As with sound relationship, it is important that the communication gap
will reduce and able to create trust among the retailers to the service providers which will
have a direct impact in sales.
 There are lots of scopes in below 30 segments because they are more tech savvy and
readily adapt to new innovations and offers. Where as in above 35 segment people have
already understood the benefit of the cellular phones. So they are eager to accept this.
With proper marketing strategies the telecom companies can penetrate more to this
segment.
 With proper promotional strategies and facilities the mobile companies can attract more
customers as well as their family members and friends.
 Aircel and Airtel have become the most popular brands in the Salem market for Data
Plans. Whereas, the other companies like Idea, Tata Docomo and Reliance also giving a
strong competition to their rivals.
 Connectivity, Coverage, Data Packs Tariffs, Attractive offers and Speed is the most
important parameters nowadays. Without these the company cannot sustained in the
market.

66
 The players who are doing comparatively lesser than the competitors in the market they
need to improve their network quality, speed and connectivity. Because the Vodafone
and Airtel have got the popularity after improving their network quality & coverage. But
in Data Plans promotions and offers Vodafone should improve.
 Aircel and Airtel are having a Good consumer rating. Vodafone is having average
consumer rating with respect to Data Plans. If they are failed to provide more offers it
can be a big concern for them.
7.2 Recommendations
 From the report it evident that the AIRTEL & VODAFONE has capitulates most of the
market share, but still there is a big scope of further penetration of Vodafone into the
current market scenario by more innovative marketing strategies in Data plans.
 Having worked in the above market I have felt that there is lot of improvement needed in
promotional strategies and making the people aware of the usefulness Vodafone Speed.
With proper promotional strategies and facilities the mobile companies can attract more
customers as well as their family members and friends.
 Regular visit is needed for the outlets to ensure quality service can withstand the
competition.
 Vodafone should increase its coverage in consumption sites to increase sales and satisfy
both customers and retailers more
 More stall activities and in store events should be carried out near Idea focused outlets
 Visibility of products should be increased through boards, marketing posters, pamphlets
and hoardings
 More new outlets can be created by motivating potential retailers
 Proper follow up is required for Idea focused outlets to ensure adequate service is there

67
 Product knowledge among retailer should be emphasized
 Proper awareness regarding retailer offers and commission details must be given to
retailers through frequent communication and advertisements
 Also I have felt that that customers are less aware of *121* individual offers. In areas of
ldea focused outlets more awareness and attention should be provided about individual
data offers.
7.3 Limitations
This study is limited in terms of
 It is limited to the particular region only i.e Salem
 Time period of the project was three months, which may not be enough to understand the
whole market
 Sample size of project was small as compared to total area
 Some retail shops and industries are closed during the day of survey
 Some retailers and industry representative are reluctant towards answering
 Some retailers and Industry representative did not provide accurate information
 It is limited to the perception of the intern

68
7.4 Conclusion:
Retailers are the important marketing channels paving way to better customer relationship.
Retailers play important role in increasing company’s profit and product preference. They are
the end of the marketing communication process providing effective reach of the product and
thus increasing the brand value of the company. Hence retailer need to be motivated for the
effectiveness of organization’s marketing practices. In case of Vodafone retailers are motivated
only to certain level in Data Plans. Hence Vodafone need to focus on satisfying the retailers in
selling Data products as they are the valuable assets to the organization. Vodafone should come
out with more offers to satisfy the retailers. They need to focus on building positive image
regarding the product on retailer’s mind. Hence they need to concentrate on commission
structure and sales promotions. Retailers need to be rewarded frequently with respect to the
performance to the sales. Satisfied retailer will always be the worthy asset to the organization
and thus increasing competitive advantage over the rivalries

69
CHAPTER 8
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND APPENDIX

70
8.1 Questionnaire for Outlets
A STUDY ON RETAILERS SATISFACTION AND PERCEPTION TOWARDS
VODAFONE DATA PLANS IN SALEM
NAME:
ADDRESS:
SHOP TYPE:
Instruction to fill the questionnaire
Rating wherever applicable is on a scale of 1-5, 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest?
1. From your total sales which operator is more preferred by the customer for Data usage?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5
2. How would you rate the following Internet service provider on their Network quality across
Salem?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5
3. How would you rate the following Internet service provider on their Internet Speed across
Salem?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5

71
4. How would you rate the following Internet service provider based on their tariffs, Plans and
offers for data plans?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5
5. How satisfied are you with the commission structure of the current network provider?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5
6. How satisfied are you with the loyalty program of the current network provider?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5
7. As a retailer how satisfied are you with the service support, when you contact the Sales team
(DSE or PSR) for help on services?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5

72
8. Rate the network service provider, based on frequently providing updated information about new
plans and offers regarding to data?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5
9. Rate on the response time for assistance or to resolve your issue on service (quality of service)
based on your experiences?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5
10. Based on your overall experiences with the product/services, which network service provider,
will you propose to customers for Data Plans?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5
11. How satisfied are you with the advertisements and promotion of Data plans of the following
network providers?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5

73
12. How satisfied are you with the attractive offers and customization of Data plans according to the
user needs for the following network providers?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5
13. What is your overall rating for the following ISPs for Data plans?
Airtel 1 2 3 4 5
Vodafone 1 2 3 4 5
Aircel 1 2 3 4 5
Idea 1 2 3 4 5
Reliance 1 2 3 4 5
14. What will be your feedback or one area of improvement for your current service providers?
Airtel
Vodafone
Aircel
Idea
Reliance
15. What will be your positive feedback about your current service providers?
Airtel
Vodafone
Aircel
Idea
Reliance

74
Bibliography
[1] David Martin - Consuegra Arturo Molina, “The Effects of Relational Benefits on Retailer
Satisfaction”
[2] Zboja, James J, Voorhees, Clay (2006) “The impact of brand trust and satisfaction on
retailer repurchase intentions” The Journal Services of Marketing 2006 : (381-390)
[3] Atul Patel, Dr. Harishchandra Singh, “Mobile phone usage habits of students
communicating from rural areas to town”
[4] Dr. Roma Mitra Debnath, “Benchmarking telecommunication service in India : An
application of data envelopment analysis”
[5] Jeon, Sunran, “Mobile Internet service: Assessment of quality and satisfaction from the
customer’s perspective” The University of Nebraska – Lincoln, UMI Dissertations
Publishing, 2008 3315206
[6] Dr. Sarika.R.Lohana, “Customer respond and satisfaction against marketing strategies
of selected cellular service providers in Nanded City”
[7] Media reports and press releases
[8] Cellular Operators Authority of India (COAI)
[9] Department of Telecommunication (DoT)
[10] www.vodafone.in
[11] www.trai.gov.in

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